Patrick Mahomes could walk onto the field Saturday carrying a chip on his shoulder bigger than the size of any of the three Super Bowl rings that he slips on his fingers.
Mahomes won 15 of his 16 starts, set a single-season career-high for completion percentage and positioned the Chiefs with home-field advantage throughout the playoffs, but he was regarded as no better than the fourth-best quarterback within the AFC — behind the Ravens’ Lamar Jackson, Bills’ Josh Allen and Bengals’ Joe Burrow — by Pro Bowl and All-Pro voters.
A good way to poke the bear.
“Statistically, what they did was better, but the underlying [truth] is that Pat is the best quarterback in the league,” ESPN NFL analyst Marcus Spears told The Post. “When he gets to the playoffs, he is in championship mode.
“I think Pat would recognize that, ‘I didn’t have the year that Josh, Lamar or Joe had from an individual standpoint, but I had the year where I willed my team and made the plays when needed in order to win 15 games.’ I think he would much prefer that.”
Coming off a first-round bye, the Chiefs begin their quest to become the first three-peat Super Bowl winner at 4:30 p.m.
Saturday against the Texans in the AFC divisional round.
As the much-anticipated Allen-Jackson matchup dominates chatter in NFL circles, the league’s latest dynasty somehow is a secondary plot.
“When I look back at all the different Super Bowls that we’ve won, I look back at special moments that we’ve had and special games that we’ve had,” Mahomes said. “We’ll try to do the same this year. It’s been a fun run up to this point, but we want to get to that ultimate goal.”
Overlook the two-time defending champions at your own risk. Mahomes, 29, can tie Joe Montana for second all-time in playoff victories (16) by beating the Texans.
“The Chiefs are kind of victims of their own success,” said Spears, who is part of ESPN’s pregame coverage. “We live in a generation where we want to find the next thing super fast. The topic of discussion is not about a three-peat but about if anybody can dethrone them.
“Underlying everyone talking about all these other teams is that you still have a sixth sense that the Chiefs are going to figure out a way to get it done just because history tells us that.”
Nitpickers point to the Chiefs winning 16 consecutive one-score games — a pendulum that is past due to swing the other direction. Right?
“They’re not going to panic at the end of games. Everyone else is,” Spears said. “That team is more comfortable in critical situations than they are on the first play of the game because they have the ultimate chess piece in Pat. You feel like every time he has the ball in those situations, he is going to make the play to win the game. You would take none of these MVP quarterbacks having phenomenal years over Pat in those situations.”
Critics might also point to an offense that failed to score more than 30 points in any game this season — a dubious distinction that the Chiefs share with the Patriots (4-13).
But the Chiefs enter the playoffs with a rested Travis Kelce — chasing Jerry Rice’s playoff receiving records — and three hungry pass catchers who haven’t been part of their back-to-back championships: Marquise Brown (nine catches for 91 yards after making his season debut on Dec. 21), the NFL’s fastest man in Xavier Worthy (nine touchdowns from scrimmage as a rookie) and future Hall of Famer DeAndre Hopkins (437 yards and four touchdowns in 10 games since he was acquired).
Add in playoff-performer running back Isiah Pacheco, who hasn’t had more than 61 yards from scrimmage in any of five games since returning from a leg injury but has at least 75 in all seven of his career postseason games.
“Marquise Brown is a big deal,” Spears said. “You put that type of speed out there with Xavier Worthy, you want to lift the top off the defense. Pat and Travis are going to get it going. It’s like waking up in the morning and brushing your teeth that those guys are going to have success in the playoffs.”
So, what is the Texans’ path to an upset? Rely on Will Anderson, Danielle Hunter and the rest of their defensive line — a strength that the Chiefs are countering by moving All-Pro guard Joe Thuney to left tackle.
“You can cancel Christmas if you can’t get pressure on Pat,” Spears said. “You need to move him off his spots and not let him scramble for those critical third downs that we see every year in the playoffs.”
Don’t expect the chip to slow him down.
